Biography
Manda Benson is a scientist and writer from the Midlands of England who has previously worked in research and taught science at undergraduate and A-Level. Manda's work includes:
The Hoard, a mystery novel about two neurodivergent environmental health workers determined to solve the murder of a hoarder whose house they are contracted to clear out.
Pilgrennon's Children, a technothriller series about an autistic girl with the power to mentally control computers and other devices, who discovers that she and a number of other children came about as a result of unethical genetic and technological experiments;
A motley handful of other novels, and;
Numerous short fiction and nonfiction pieces in magazines and anthologies.
Statement on 'AI'
I use Libre Office to write. I do not use 'AI' at any point in creating my fiction. I grew up in an age when computers were just becoming commercially available and have watched them evolve, and many of the modern attempts to make software more sophisticated are counterproductive where simpler, more elegant software worked better! I have been an aficionada of Linux for most of my adult life, and encourage others wishing to escape operating systems that force users to accept bloatware and integrated 'AI' assistants to try it.
I condemn the wastage of water and power to generate 'AI' slop and its flooding of the Internet. I deplore the move to cloud storage and subscription-based software, and the excessive WEEE our society produces, and love repairing and using old computers. The ones from the days when laptops had 4:3 screens are far nicer to write on!
Some are theorising that 'AI' will destroy the human species. It's not impossible this might happen, but what's probably more likely is that agents released into our data systems capable of evolving will simply break the Internet, leaving humans free to destroy one another, a scenario I wrote about in the 2025 novel The Lambton Worm.
Manda Benson's publication list
Short Fiction
The Ash Covenant, Flame Tree Newsletter, April 2026. Fantasy. A woman makes a pact with a volcanic power to take revenge against a brutal empire.
Shade, Xanax Hamster, December 2024. Contemporary ghost story with historical Midlands flavour.
Cold Shoulder, A Thin Slice of Anxiety, July 2023. (reprint)
Broken Circle, Titanic Terastructures, 2021. Science fiction. A scientist's life's work is destroyed by her son's carelessness.
Pot Shot!, Hybrid Fiction 2020. Science-fiction-fantasy-history satire in which three people hunt genetically modified game on a terraformed asteroid. (They paid me for this story, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic)
Radiosynthesis, Primordial Magazine January 2018. Science-fiction mystery about a space crew investigating a research colony where nearly everyone has inexplicably died.
In the Shadow of Lazarus science-fiction horror novella, Lyrical Press, February 2011. Republished in 2015 by Tangentrine. The motley crew of a space freighter fight for survival after becoming infected with a mysterious disease that turns them against each other and their own better judgement.Running for the Embassy, Aoife's Kiss March 2011. Mystery, humour. Technology was speculative at the time of publication, but seems rather quaint now. A British expat living in Japan finds himself investigating a smuggling ring when the ambassador dies under suspicious circumstances.
The Plains of Fire Aurora Wolf May 2010. Science fiction. A sexually dimorphic species of human faces a leadership crisis in the skies of Venus. This story was later selected to appear in Aurora Wolf's Best Of anthology.
To the End of Eternity Weirdyear January 2010. Flash fiction, science fiction.
An astronaut has been sent on a mission of no return.
Cold Shoulder Golden Visions Magazine January 2010. Flash fiction, science fiction.
A story about a young woman who is used to getting what she wants, and won't take no for an answer. This was one of the top three stories in the January issue, as voted for by readers, and appeared in the July print issue.
Three Gods Hypersonic Tales June 2009 science fiction, humour, flash fiction.
Two kids and their dad explore the ruins of an ancient civilisation and reach an unconventional conclusion.
Crime, from a Different Perspective Anthology The Fat Man at the End of the World, December 2008 science-fantasy, humour. A detective and a forensic scientist struggle to solve an impossible crime while being obstructed by a bullying superintendent. Kind of like Mulder and Scully but British and with pies and Viz comics.
The Thirteenth Brigade, Jupiter October 2006, science fiction, humour.
A surveillance team on a Jovian moon become locked out of their base and have to rely on their wits and an army of bionic cockroaches. A bit like Dad's Army in space.
Nonfiction
Poisonous fungi a scientific/ informative article in Aquila children's magazine, October 2007
An example of one of my many unhealthy interests!
Novels
Cleanup Crew, a mystery series
The Hoard, Sparsile Books 2026.Pilgrennon's Children, an epic bildungsroman technothriller pentalogy
Pilgrennon's Beacon, Tangentrine, 2010.
Pilgrennon's Gambit, sequel to Pilgrennon's Beacon, Tangentrine, 2024
The Emerald Forge, sequel to Pilgrennon's Gambit, Tangentrine, 2012
The Lambton Worm, sequel to The Emerald Forge, Tangentrine, 2025
The Frozen Shore, sequel to The Lambton Worm, Tangentrine, forthcoming 2027
Beasts, a science-fiction adventure trilogy
Moonsteed first published 2011 by Lyrical Press. Second edition published by Kensington/Lyrical Press 2014. Republished 2024 by Tangentrine.
Sunhawk Forthcoming from Tangentrine.
Starhound Forthcoming from Tangentrine.
True Colours of the Chameleon, crime/romance thriller, Tangentrine, January 2014.
Dark Tempest science-fiction-thriller-romance novel, published February 2010 by Lyrical Press, republished 2014 by Lyrical Press/Kensington. Dark Tempest reached #3 in science-fiction bestsellers on Fictionwise in March 2010. Dark Tempest will be republished as a new edition at some point.
The Weatherman's Niece, children's fiction, Tangentrine, October 2010.
Wastelander, children's fiction, published by Tangentrine, July 2010.
Competitions
A Shark Called Morgan fantasy, 2026 Honourable Mention 3rd quarter, Writers of the Future
The Raid on Redmoon Keep science fiction, 2026 Honourable Mention 1st quarter, Writers of the Future
Pilgrennon's Beacon 2011 quarterfinalist, Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest.
Jack of Savants science fiction, 2005 quarterfinalist, Writers of the Future
In the Shadow of Lazarus science fiction, 2006 semifinalist, Writers of the Future